Untitled Hellboy Fanfiction
by The Karnstein
Summary: Needs a title! See author's note. An alternate universe fanfiction that takes place after events of The Golden Army film.
1. Prologue

**Untitled Hellboy Fanfiction**

_Author's Note: I honestly have no idea what to name this fanfiction. So whoever comes up with a decent title for me will get a present: I'll write a fanfic for you, or i'll make some kind of fanart for you on my Deviantart account. Whatever you'd like. With that out of the way, I hope you will enjoy the story._

_

* * *

_

A stab, followed by a pained cry. Then a second.

Abraham's lips parted as a loud gasp escaped him. Nuada had quickly lunged for Red the minute the devil had turned his back on him, when suddenly his raised arm dropped uselessly to the side. The prince's face was completely painstricken, and blood gushed from his shoulder. His spear collapsed to the floor beside his foot and the Prince's knees buckled. A pale hand slapped over his now wounded shoulder and his bulging eyes shifted to the person behind him.

_"Nuala.....!"_

Her teeth sank into her lower lip and tear formed in her yellow eyes. Abraham's head turned from the male twin to the female counterpart and saw that her knife had buried itself deep into her shoulder, penetrating a nerve and perhaps an artery. In a panic, Abraham pushed himself pass Hellboy and the wounded prince, climbing over the large cogs and wheels of the factory and moving onto the platform above. Nuala dropped to her knees and Abraham knelt beside her, his arms around her, his hand moving close to the wound to observe it.

She had done it to save Hellboy. She saw the sneak attack from the moment the demon turned his back. She stabbed herself to stop her brother from killing him.

"Red!" Abraham's shaking voice filled the room. "She's hurt... we have to get her out of here!"

Hellboy nodded, his eyes focusing on the couple. "Bring her over here, Abe. We'll get her out." He said, then his eyes fell to the male twin. "And you..."

He took a step closer and kicked the spear across the room. Nuala's eyes glared up at the tall monster, and the two locked eyes as Hellboy continued. "The only reason I don't shoot you," he reinfored this statement by clicking back on his revolver and pressing the barrel to the elf's forehead. "Is because of your sister. I dont' want to have to tell Abe his girlfriend died because her brother decided to attack me from behind."

Red noticed the hatred in the elf's eyes the moment he referred to Nuala as Abraham's _girlfriend_. For a brief moment, the elf jerked his head to the side and turned his hateful eyes onto the form of Abraham carrying his sister in his arms. Abraham's head was lowered, staring down at the injured girl with concern, though Nuada was confident that the creature could feel the very aura of the male elf's hatred upon him. Red glared again and lowered the gun, but did not holster it. This was enough to cause Nuada to turn his eyes back to the demon.

"So, it looks like you owe me." Hellboy said, glancing over his shoulder. "I spared your life, I'm willin' to let you walk outta this place alive. So when we get out, I better not hear about you causin' us anymore trouble."

It was as if Nuada had finally noticed the presence of the others in the room. His eyes fell on each of them with complete disgust. That mechanical creature, a symbol of the human's ugly technology and machinery. Just the sight of that abomination was enough to make the prince ill. And then the woman: ugly and spiteful, all the more so when she held the crown in her hand and began to burn it. As it melted in her fiery embrace, his eyes grew larger. His loathing for these people increased and multiplied with every passing second. They were taking everything from him before his very eyes: his sister, his army, his one chance at annihilating the very cancer that was humanity.

And his hateful eyes fell back on the red demon before him.

"_Be good_." Hellboy spat, then turned away. One arm draped around the woman's shoulders as they walked away, watching as the robotic army began to crumble and fall. Abraham, still carrying the fallen princess in his arms, followed after the two. Johann Krauss was the last to leave, his heavy boots clunking with every step he took.

And Nuada's eyes lowered... his arms moved close to his stomach. The heavy burden of failure was upon him. The hate he felt for those monsters seemed to grow stronger as they left him behind. His eyes glared down at the floor, his heart pounded faster with every passing second. His teeth clenched and his head lifted, watching as the group escaped the room.

"He should have killed me..... when he had the chance."

Forcing himself onto his feet, his hand still clenching his bloody shoulder, Nuada growled in his frustration. He tore a sash from his waist, enwrapping his shoulder in it and making a tourniquet within minutes. As the shadows of his enemies vanished, he stood tall and stepped forward.

"I will not stop. I cannot stop."

He would find a way. If he could not rely on the Golden Army any longer, he would find other means to achieve his goal.

Leaving him alive would be the biggest mistake that monster could make.


	2. Chapter 1 Four months later

Untitled Hellboy Fanfiction

Chapter 1 - _Four months later..._

Relocating from the small office in Italy to a larger bureau in New Jersey wasn't easy for the Angela family. The fact that it came so suddenly was a surprise all on it's own. It would seem that the Bureau had been three members short for the past four months and would be in dire need of new agents. Holly Angela, being the founder of an obscure paranormal investigation business, had sent the Bureau her resume and records for she and both of her daughters. She was certainly caught by surprise when the director of the BPRD responded as quickly as he did.

He had hired them. All three of them. And they were expected to arrive in a month's time, leaving behind their home and country for an entirely new world. And that month went by much faster than any of them had expected.

It was no doubt going to be hard to say farewell to their cozy little home. A small cabin in a rural Italian town, pretty as a picture, with it's four bedrooms, small kitchen, and small front and backyard gardens. The home always smelled of the fresh country air, wild flowers, and Holly's cooking. Though mixing the pleasures of a comfortable home with the risky nature of their business was not entirely a wise decision, the small family of three managed to make it work. Paranormal investigators by night, and a happy family by day, things seemed to work just well for them. And with this new opportunity, hopefully things could only get better…

Holly had finished loading the last of her items into a small cardboard box. She was in her mid-forties and her age was beginning to show: strands of gray hair had begun to appear in her thick, curly blonde hair and a few wrinkles and lines had formed around her nose and mouth. And the last time she had weighed herself, she cursed at the extra pounds she gained over the years. Yes, getting old certainly wasn't fun. Despite all the surprises her eventful and unusual life brought her, in the end, she was really no different from any other woman her age: dealing with getting old, hoping to live long enough to see the next day, and working hard enough to keep her family alive and well. Unfortunately this included moving all the way to the other side of the planet to find work at a US organization.

Just as Holly began to say her silent farewells to her bedroom and office, a familiar voice filled the room. A voice belonging to her eldest daughter, Magdalena.

"Already hating this decision?"

"Don't start."

"That was a yes."

Magdalena was a slim, leggy blonde in her mid twenties. She was much taller than her mother and was fortunate enough to have inherited her good looks, but certainly didn't take the pain of leaving her home very well. Very rarely did Magdalena (or Mal, as she preferred to be called) ever show a bad attitude about things. For the most part she was a rather optimistic, happy person. Yet leaving behind a home that she had lived in since birth offered little room for happiness or optimism. And quite frankly, Holly wasn't in the mood for it.

"We've been over this before," Holly said, her tone very firm. "They will pay us better, and they will offer us a safer environment to live in. I won't have to worry about any more...... accidents...." she chose her words carefully. If Mal was anything, she was sensitive about her situation, and the events that occurred in the past couple of months. The fact that she began wearing scarves and chokers almost every day made that very apparent.

Mal shook her head and crossed her arms. "I know, I know..." she sighed, leaning against the wall. "I just don't like it, that's all. I hate moving. I hate the idea of leaving this place."

"I know, you've made that very clear." Holly shook her head. She had heard this all before and it was getting tiresome. She would have been a whole lot more sensitive to her daughter's feelings had Mal not beat this dead horse every chance she could get.

"And we're not gonna know anybody." it was another excuse, another attempt to make them stay. "They're probably just a bunch of horny old men who want three hot girls to look at. I bet they didn't even look at our profiles and records. They just saw our pictures and hired us right off the bat…"

"Don't say such stupid things." Holly groaned. Her patience was wearing thin. She hoisted the box into her arms and turned around. "Don't think for a second that this is easy on me either, sugar. But it's something we have to do. I want to protect my family and I want to make sure we're all safe. That's more important to me than this house."

For a long time Holly and Magdalena kept eye contact. They had the same eyes: a very light shade of blue, like a pair of aquamarines. At the moment, Holly's eyes seemed to betray her tone: though she had sounded firm and impatient, her eyes were full of compassion and understanding. This wasn't easy for any of them, but it was necessary. And though Mal was looking for any reason at all to stay behind, she knew this to be true as well.

With a sigh, Mal turned and exited the room. Holly followed close behind as the two proceeded through the now empty home and into the front yard. A black truck was parked infront of the house, loaded with supplies and everything they owned. And leaning against the truck was a small girl who seemed to have inherited Holly's wild, curly blonde hair. Lilianna Angela was staring down at whatever she was holding in her gloved hands, seemingly unaware that her mother and sister were approaching. When they came near, they saw that she held a rather large spider cupped in her small hands. The sight caused Mal to jump back a few feet, and caused Lili to give her sister a puzzled glance.

"Magda…" she sighed, shaking her head. "After everything we've seen, don't you think spiders wouldn't be so scary anymore?"

Mal groaned. "It's not scary… it's just weird looking… and freaky…" her front teeth sank into her bottom lip as she peered over her sister's hands to view the insect. No sooner did she see it again, she flinched away from it as it made a single movement. "Ick…! Jesus, nothing alive should have that many legs!"

Lili sighed and moved away from the car, heading in the direction of the garden. "It's not their fault they look this way…" she sighed, putting the insect on the leaf of a tulip and watching as it crawl away. "…And it's the last time I'm ever going to look for bugs in our garden… I wanted to say goodbye to something…"

Mal's eyebrows rose and she turned her head to Holly with a big fake grin on her face. "Hey, one more reason to stay! Lili has more bugs to find!"

Holly responded by thumping her daughter in the middle of her forehead. "Get in the car."

Magdalena groaned, rubbing the sore spot with her two fingertips, and then glanced back at Lili. "Oh alright… Lili! It's time to go!"

The younger sister approached the truck. As her hand touched the door, her body froze for a moment. She sighed as her eyes caught the reflection of the house in the window of the truck. For the last time, she turned to look at her home. She had lived there for sixteen years. This was always her sanctuary, her place of rest and comfort… and she was leaving it forever. Lilianna took in everything: the small house, the large tree, the tire-swing, the gardens, the small picket fence… it was like something right out of a fairy tale. They would have to be crazy in order to leave it.

"Hey…" a soft, husky voice came from her side. Lili looked up to see her mother stroking her shoulder and cheek. "…Say goodbye," she whispered, her tone much softer this time.

Lili sighed, looking back up into her mother's blue eyes before they shifted back onto the house. She was stiff for a moment, but then bowed her head. "….Bye…."

A warm yet sad smile formed on Holly's lips. She opened the door to the truck, stroking Lilianna's back as the girl climbed in. She closed the door, then proceeded to the driver's seat. From here they would go to the airport in Rome. And after that, to America…


	3. Chapter 2 The Director

**Untitled Hellboy Fanfiction**

_Chapter Two - The Director_

The flight from Rome to the east coast was nine long hours of bad in-flight movies and a view of the Atlantic that quickly became boring. Lili had spent most of the flight napping, though her sleep was constantly interrupted by Mal's squirming and adjusting. The seats weren't comfortable for a lady as tall as she, and the turbelence was a nightmare for her stomach. As always, Holly sat with a mostly neutral expression, glancing out of the window and groaning with annoyance when Mal had bumped into her.

"Would you sit still?" the mother sighed, turning to glance at her daughter over her shoulder. "Honestly, you don't see your baby sister acting like this."

Mal's movements suddenly came to a stop and she struggled to keep herself as comfortable and as still as possible. "Yeah, well Lili's just a perfect little angel, isn't she? It's not like she's going to be having issues tomorrow night, what with that giant silver pizza in the sky making a guest appearance. Your body would be sore too."

Holly shook her head and leaned back in the chair. "Yes, well, be that as it may, my body has been through some rather unpleasant times itself and somehow my tolerance for pain and discomfort is pretty high. Hopefully you'll inherit that someday, at least then you'll stop squirming so much."

Mal knew a losing battle when she heard it. Granted, her troubled time was drawing near with every passing hour, but it was hard to compare her inconvinience to a woman who gave birth twice and then spent an entire evening piecing herself back together on the basement floor when an experiment went wrong. After seeing that monstrousity, Mal knew that she had very little room to complain. Still... these damned airplane seats were murdering her back and hips...

"Besides..." Holly said, glancing back at the window. "I see the coast. We should be landing soon..."

* * *

The airport was crawling with many different people. The sights and smells of this new continent was entirely unique, unlike anything the small family of three had experienced before. Holly led her daughters towards their luggage, Lilianna rubbing the sleep from her eyes and Mal's strong hands massaging her sore lower back. It took at least ten minutes to find all of their luggage at the sort, and no sooner had they collected them all, Holly felt Mal's hand on her shoulder.

"Mom," she whispered, then pointed across the room. "...That our man?"

Holly and Lili both turned to see a man in a black suit. He was in his middle ages, perhaps eight or ten years older than Holly, bald, and looking quite lost. In his hand was a large white sign with the name "ANGELA" written on it. Holly nodded and picked up one of her suitcases.

"Yes, that would be him..." she replied, then looked down at Lili. "You have your things?"

Her youngest daughter nodded, picking up two of her bags and looking ready to go. Mal carried two rather large bags under one arm and carried a large suitcase in one hand. When Holly had lifted her belongings into her arms, the three continued towards the man. The moment the three women had approached him, he suddenly looked taken back. Neither of them were sure why. Perhaps it was because Lilianna, despite being sixteen, looked several years younger. Perhaps it was because the bags Mal was carrying clearly would have been heavy for anyone else, yet she was holding them as if they were nothing. Or maybe he didn't expect Holly to be as old as he was, and therefore probably in his date-range. Maybe the man was beginning to regret his decision of hiring them. Either way, the gaping took longer than either of them wanted it to be.

"I know we're strong but these bags aren't light." Holly said, causing the man to snap back to his senses.

"Ah, yes... here..." he turned and made a gesture with his hand. Several other men in suits had approached the group and offered out their hands to the women. Holly nodded, saying a quick "thank you" as she handed her luggage over to the men. Lili did the same, followed by Mal, who returned to massaging her sore back. Holly then offered her hand to the man with the sign.

"You are Tom Manning, then?" she asked as he took her hand and shook it.

"Y-Yes, Tom Manning. Director for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense," his voice sounded nervous, though Holly had a feeling that it naturally sounded that way and therefore had nothing to do with she and her daughters. "And you're Holly... erm... Mrs. Angela?"

"_Ms_." Holly corrected, leaning in close and lowering her voice. "Husband has been dead for eight years."

Neither the mother nor the director of the bureau noticed Mal rolling her eyes. Clearly she found it ridiculous that Holly would need to whisper such information as if her daughters didn't know about it. Tom seemed somewhat taken aback by the information and removed his hand, seemingly out of guilt.

"O-Oh... s-sorry to hear that... uh..." he looked the three over, and then cleared his throat. "Well, uhm, Ms. Angela, if you and your girls will just follow us, we'll get you settled in at the Bureau..."

Holly responded by giving him a bit of an amused smile, then nodded. "Why thank you."

The woman followed after the men in the suits, and her daughters followed behind her. Mal glanced down at Lilianna and basically had to squat down in order to whisper in her ear. "What do you make of all these suits?"

Lili glanced at her sister for a moment, then seemed to have gone into a very deep thought. After a moment, she spoke up. "...A little too early to tell... but I think Mom is making them nervous..."

This prompted a snort from the older sister as she straightened herself up. "Sad part is, I think she likes it that way..."

When they exited the airport, three black cars were parked infront. The men in the suits had loaded the luggage into the car in the middle, then branched off into the cars in the front and back. Manning opened the doors for Holly and her daughters, and when they were inside, he moved into the passenger's seat. The traffic leaving the airport was unpleasant, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as the nine hour flight. Manning of course took this opportunity to look over their files.

"So... Ms. Angela..." he said, looking back.

"Which one?" Lilianna chirped. Manning seemed taken aback.

"...Wh-what?" he stammered. Lili chuckled.

"There's three _Ms. Angela's_ in here. Which one were you talking to?" had anyone else said it, they would have taken it as an insult. Lili's tone, however, was very sweet. Manning still looked as though he couldn't believe that she was sixteen.

"Ah... ah, right you are..." he laughed nervously, then began to flip through the pages of the files. "Well... I suppose I should start with, Holly..." he looked relunctant to address her in this way, though Holly's look gave him her consent. "It says here... that you ran your own small paranormal-investigating company. And you've provided records of your research and experimentation on paranormal beings... am I right?"

"Every word." Holly said with a smile. "My girls and I had our own business that was passed on from my mother's family. They had began their research after a few strange incidents during the second world war and had to work incognito, so the Germans didn't catch onto our work. This is why our operation was very obscure. We've been carrying on their work, since the monsters are always constantly changing with the times." she then glanced at the file. "What else does it say about little ol' me in there?"

"Well..." Manning gave a nervous chuckle and looked back down."It says that you... well, that you liked to experiment, but that one day, one went very.... bad..."

Holly titled her head to the side and shrugged a bit. "I suppose, but not entirely bad." she chuckled, then waved at him. "Still in one piece, aren't I?"

Manning noticed that at that comment, both of Holly's daughters had shuddered. Clearly this was a very bad memory, if not an entirely disgusting one. He looked back at the file, cleared his throat again, and continued. "...Indeed. You say that your experimentation resulted in a very advanced stage of regeneration." he looked her over several times. "....I'm guessing this is true."

Holly chuckled. "If you need further proof, have one of your boys break my arm. Or my neck... or you can amputate them if you're really daring."

Everyone in the car had gone silent at that comment. At first it looked like Manning wanted to laugh. Holly's face, though highly amused, certainly didn't look deceitful. In a hurry, he flipped through some more pages before stopping on Mal's file.

"Ah, and here we have...Mag....Mag....dah....ley.....na...." his pronounciation was so wrong it wasn't even funny to hear.

"_Mal_." the girl corrected him. "...For short..."

"Right..." he nodded to her, then looked at her file. "You say you have experience in the field of lycanthropic research?"

Mal crossed her arms and leaned back. "Yeah, unfortunately."

Manning's eyes widened at that. "Unfortun..... wait..." he looked directly at her, panic showing on his face. "...what do you mean by that?"

Magdalena's sensitivity about this subject seemed to be making itself very visible on her face. She didn't look happy at all with where this was going. Her first response was to call the man out on his stupid questions, but thought better of it. They had just moved across the ocean to work for this guy. Mom wouldn't be happy if her daughter ruined it for her, now would she?

"Let's just say that there had better be some kind of iscolated room that I can sleep in for tomorrow night. After all, there's going to be a full moon." was her very spiteful response. Manning naturally didn't seem comfortable with this, and Holly took it upon herself to explain things.

"What she means is," she explained, "...that she is very experienced in the field, and her research in lycanthropy is because of this. If you are tracking someone or something down, her instincts are much sharper than mine and Lili's, and she can find whoever it is you are looking for. And because of her current state, her muscles and stamina is well above that of a human's. I believe she can be a great help to your organization, though I do hope that you agreed to the accommodations we have listed upon sending in our profiles."

Manning still looked entirely unsure of all of this. His eyes fell back down to the report and then he listed off the accommodations: "... Moderate sized cell, no windows, doors sealed at all times during the full moon cycle, 20 pounds of raw meat served per day, preferably deer or rabbit." he listed, then looked right at Mal. "....This is for you?"

"....Mostly for you, actually." she replied, keeping herself as civil as she could be. "I black out during that time... so I can do pretty nasty things without realizing it. Wouldn't want to make a mess of things. Just lock me up when you need to, and I'll be good every other time."

Manning nodded hugely. It was evident that he disliked the idea of having a werewolf in the same car as he, and Mal was beginning to question whether she had been right about the Bureau not reading the profiles after all. He forced another fake smile on his face, and then looked to Lili.

"And that leaves you..." he said with another nervous chuckle. "It says here... you applied to be a medic?" his eyes went big and he looked back to Lilianna. She was smiling and nodding at him. "....But.... surely... you couldn't possibly have earned your M.D. at your age..."

Lili shook her head. "No I didn't. But..." Manning watched as the girl proceeded to remove a glove from one of her delicate hands. Then her small fingers reached over and touched his shoulder. At first he had jumped in a panic, unsure of what Lili was doing. Then all of a sudden, the stress and nervousness seemed to drift away. His body relaxed, his muscles seemed to be at ease, and his pounding heart seemed to slow down to a normal pulse. Lili gave him a smile and moved her hand back.

"I'm not a scientist or a field agent, so I couldn't help there. But... I can fix people." was her reply, as she slipped on her glove. "Sick people... people who are hurt... I can't make them grow back their limbs or remove weapons, but I can heal open wounds and cure minor illnesses, and take away a person's stress... so..."

Tom was gaping at her the whole time, then looked down at the file. "But it says.... it says that you can't do that to yourself."

Lilianna thought about it. "Well... I suppose I can't do it to myself as quickly as I can to others.... depending on how badly I'm hurt, it can take to a few weeks for myself, maybe a month... for anyone else, a half hour to a day."

The director eyed the three women before him. It dawned on him that these three would be the ones to replace the agents he had lost. And although he knew he should have been comfortable with this decision, this recent discussion was begining to give him doubts.

Time would tell...


	4. Chapter 3 Adjustments

UNTITLED HELLBOY FANFICTION

Chapter 3 – Adjustments

Moving from an independently owned business into a government-owned one did not an easy transition. The first few days were far too uncomfortable. It had begun the night after the Angela family had arrived to the Bureau. The very secure and underground feel to this place was already unnerving. Everything felt as if it were built in some kind of bomb shelter: no windows, no sunlight, nothing at all like their home in Italy. Lilianna, despite her warm and friendly demeanor, had begun to shift and fidget a lot more sense she arrived. It felt as though she was stepping into a prison. With Magdalena's upcoming transformation, the elder sister was already having issues getting comfortable with this place. The only one of the family who seemed to hide her discomfort the best was Holly. This was a new opportunity, after all. Any sign of weakness could make all of these businessmen regret their decision to hire her. It was time to don a poker face.

Within the first two nights, the girls were assigned positions in the BPRD. As a scientist, Holly was to spend her days in the laboratories, libraries, and other research divisions of the organization. Special Agent Johann Krauss was to train her to follow protocol as well as oversee her work. Lilianna was to be transferred to the medical unit in the BPRD's hospital wing. With her uncanny ability to heal the wounded with a touch, the doctors had feared that their job would be on the line. As it turns out, since Lilianna was still, in all respects, a child without any medical experience or skill, the doctors there were able to stay.

Magdalena had the hardest time adjusting in the first two nights. Before her transformation, Manning had briefed her on her role in this BPRD. Since the Bureau was missing three of it's field agents, she would be replacing one of them. She would be taking the place of former agent Hellboy and her business at hand would be centered more on "defense" rather than research. He did inform her that despite this, she would need an understanding of charms, talismans, and special weaponry, and should constantly brush up on any information regarding the paranormal. And then he led her to the secure wing of the Bureau.

Large steel doors slid open, horizontally parting as Manning and Magdalena approached the cell. It was a large square room, the walls made of steel: no windows, no doors, no possible way of escape. It was rather impersonal as well: despite her animalistic condition, there was nothing that looked as if it could possibly make a wolf comfortable. Perhaps they figured by the time she had changed, the only thing that could sate the animal wasn't the illusion of a wolf's habitat, but the bloody raw meat that was to be served. Either way, Mal shrugged and stepped into the cell. She had at least a half an hour until twilight, and the moment the full moon was high in the sky, the change would begin. When the large steel doors closed behind her, Magdalena peeled away her clothing, kicking off her boots and sliding her shirt up and over her head. She unclipped her bra and removed her pants and undergarments.

It was out of some level of modesty that Mal's arms folded around her to cover her breasts. She had spotted a camera in the middle of the room and the light was on. Clearly if these people were going to have a werewolf in their midst, they wanted to keep an eye on her at all times. Fair enough, although the thought did embarrass her. She walked across the room, found a secluded place in the corner, and sat there. She hugged her legs against her chest, her long hair covered her shoulders and arms, and she waited there.

_Guess I should just relax… the change hurts less if I don't resist it._

* * *

The lab was very up to date, hi-tech, and the complete opposite to Holly's preferred line of work. The head of the Angela family stood over the corpses of a mummified goblin with an armful of parchment and a quill in her hand. Due to her aging eyes, a pair of half-moon glasses rested on the brim of her nose as she overlooked her notes. The other scientist around her had been typing their information into small computers and the sound of their keyboards was more than enough to distract Holly from her line of work. Several times she had to cross out misspelled or misplaced words due to her distractions, though she seemed to be keeping her irritation under control.

Before, she had the comfort of her own office, and it helped that it was also in her own cozy home. Now she was working in a facility: a loud, noisy, and crowded one. Adjusting was going to be difficult, especially when it came to her trainer.

Johann Krauss was an ectoplasmic entity that occupied a very large, robotic suit. His heavy boots clunked on the floor's tiles with every step he took, and the sound of the ectoplasma steaming out through the vents caused some distraction. When Holly had managed to jot down enough notes to satisfy herself, she slipped a pair of gloves onto her hands and approached the Mummy. Her trainer was standing behind her, a little too close for comfort, but she was good at ignoring him.

That is… until he spoke…

"Vat do you see, Miss Angela?" he asked, then followed it with, "Und vat are you laughing about?"

Holly's body was shaking slightly. She did her best to hold back her laughter. His German accent brought back many hilarious memories and stories, most of which would not be wise to share with him. She shook her head at pointed at the mummy.

"He looks funny, sir. I never saw one so puny, even for a goblin." was her response. A good save, for the most part. After regaining her composure, she moved to the mummy and began to look over the corpse. "Hrm…well it's cloaking device has weakened. Hasn't completely vanished, despite being… I want to suggest, 1500 years old? Give or take? Perhaps the wrappings have preserved it…"

The goblin's weakened cloaking device gave the remains of the creature the appearance of a ghoulish looking infant. Had this creature been alive and it's cloaking device completed, one would have easily confused it for a human child. Holly reached out and very carefully decided to peel away a portion of the wrapping, looking it over. Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed as she turned the wrap over in her hand, then she offered her hand to the nearest scientist.

"Hand me those glasses."

The scientist seemed to understand. He moved towards a cabinet and found one of the last surviving pairs of Emil Schufftein goggles. When he handed her such a large device, Holly jumped back in surprise.

"What the hell are those?" she asked.

The scientist looked surprise. "The…the goggles, ma'am." He stammered.

"Jesus Christ…" Holly placed the wrapping onto the table and removed her half-moon spectacles. "It looks like some kind of torture device, you mean with all the technology you have here, you people haven't updated these?"

Holly sighed, gave the man a quiet "thank you," then placed the goggles onto her head. Unfortunately, due to her curly hair, the straps had become very tangled in it. "Oh damn… oww.."

"Vait, vait!" she heard Johann from behind her and felt his cold, metal fingers at the back of her head. "I can fix it, stand still!"

Holly's hands then moved to the huge lenses over her eyes, holding them still so Johann could assist her. "Gosh, I guess I was right about it being a torture device."

Johann chuckle. "No, no, no, Fraulein. It's is really a useful device vonce you get used to it! Aha, zere ve are!" after a moment, he stepped away and Holly lifted her head, no longer feeling her hair being tugged on. "Better?"

She adjusted the goggles and then turned to look at him. Clearly, despite all the struggle she had in putting them on, the glasses certainly were handy. Through the lenses, she saw that Johann no longer wore his large, metal suit. Instead, he consisted entirely of a smoky, white substance that took on a cloudy, humanoid form. Indeed, this was his true nature. She gave him a smile and nodded to him.

"Much better, thank you." Then she returned to her work, looking over the wrappings.

With the glasses on, she saw several strange symbols glowing on the cloth, and then requested a book of runes and hieroglyphics. This mummy had come from near the Mediterranean. She wanted to believe it was Egyptian at first, but soon discovered that these symbols seemed to greatly resemble the Greek alphabet. After viewing a few pages of the book and taking an hour or so to translate what she was seeing, she filed her report to Johann.

"Nothing too serious, actually." She said as she removed the goggles. "The wrappings had a charm that would keep the cloaking device from fading, so the goblins could bury their dead in a more human-like form. That way, should the mummified remains be discovered, they would resembled mummified human children instead of goblins." She said, shaking her head. "My guess is that we tampered with this one a bit too much and the cloaking device was beginning to wear off."

"I vas told you vere ze brains of your team, und I must say I'm impressed." Was his reply and Holly chuckled.

"Well, it would be silly if I weren't. Had to be smart enough to take care of my girls. Would be embarrassing if they were the ones who had to take care of me." She said, then cracked her neck. "Though honestly… I'm going to have to work on those goggles and make a more comfortable pair. I'm getting too old to be having those heavy things on me."

"Vell zen, if you believe it is necessary in order to make your vork easier, you have my permission. Ve don't vant you hurting yourself! Gute nacht, Ms. Angela." And after a theatrical bow from the ectoplasmic creature, he watched as Holly smiled and turned away.

"Avere una notte buona." She said over her shoulder.

* * *

Dawn was approaching. Already, Lilianna wasn't sure if she was going to be able to stand this new job. Staying up at such long hours without any rest, sleeping during the day, working so hard during the night. When she applied to be a medic, she certainly didn't expect this kind of labor. Perhaps it was naïve of her to believe that she would only be taking care of wounded BPRD agents. When she came into the hospital wing and saw that a large squid-like monster was going into labor, her heart nearly stopped. At least five grown men were restraining the creature, who's limbs and tentacles were whipping about the room out of sheer agony. At least five doctors were trying to sedate her, and when that didn't work, they asked Lili to see if she could relax the creature.

With a pale face and a pounding heart, the young girl approached the monster, duking and dodging the swinging limbs before she approached the monster's head. The doctors immediately felt pity for the small creature: the moment she laid eyes on the creature's face, with it's large eyes, several rows of large, sharp teeth, and it's strange, sac-like head, Lilianna looked simply petrified. The doctor shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Make it quick. We won't let her hurt you." He reassured her.

Lilianna swallowed down a huge knot in her throat and removed the gloves from her hand. After feeling a bit squimish and nervous, she rushed for the creature's head and screamed when it whipped it's head to the side and snapped it's teeth in her direction. The doctors stayed true to their word and restrained the monster's head, keeping her from biting anyone else while Lilianna thrust her hands forward, palms flat on the creature's head. After a few minutes, her flailing arms and limbs slowed and her struggling came to a halt. At that time, Lili was clearly too afraid to move, let alone say anything, and kept her position while the doctor went through with the childbirth.

All Lili wanted to do when her shift was over was go right to sleep and forget everything that had just happened in that room. Her eyes were large, her face was still very pale, her mind was blank for a few moments, and she was moving very quickly. It wasn't until she bumped into another person that she felt her thoughts return to her. By then, she was on the floor, sitting up and looking into the face of a rather unusual creature.

"I'm sorry," a male voice spoke as a dark blue, human-like hand reached out towards her. "You're not hurt, are you?"


End file.
